Recent Stuff.
Recent Stuff.
Conspiracies!
Political intrigue. Assassinations. Airplane crashes. Disastrous weather. In an increasingly complicated world, it's tempting to blame devastating events on shadowy perpetrators with sinister plans. Do insiders manipulate global financial markets? Is there a powerful cabal that insures the success of certain Hollywood stars? Have shape-shifting lizard people really infiltrated the United States government and the British monarchy? Find out!
Volume 1: From witch trials to smallpox blankets, Lee Harvey Oswald to End of Days (and yes, the Illuminati!) Conspiracies real and imagined through the centuries. Read it here.
Volume 2: From the Deep State to 9/11, vaccines to frankenfoods, Tupac to Elvis; modern day conspiracies real and imagined. Read it here.
Consultancy Web Site + Marketing Copy
The Founder/Owner of Sage Ways, Inc., an organizational agility consultancy, wanted to distill a constellation of abstract business optimization theories, models, and methodologies into a succinct story and service offering. She also wanted copy for a site and brand refresh -- especially the consultant bios -- that would stand apart from the competition.
SIFF Fly Filmmaking Challenge
Each year, SIFF compiles shorts from local filmmakers around a theme. This challenge, inspired by anthology Paris Je T'aime, was to create a love letter to Seattle, affectionately titled Seattle, I Love You.
Of course there's no single experience of Seattle anymore than there's one way to love. So the idea behind Fresh Pair was to create a shifting sense of place by following a jogger, then build a story mosaic about different kinds of relationships from the snippets of conversation she overhears. Check out the original script (working title: Getting Around to It ) by yours truly here, and B47 Studios' final production, directed by Norma Jean Straw, here.
Marketing Trade Ghost Writing
The Global Chief Marketing Officer of the Hacker Agency, based in Germany, wanted to write a case study about new kinds of digital marketing work being done China. The challenge: distilling compelling insight from specialized, technical information from a non-native English speaker while parsing questions of confidentiality and nondisclosure, then writing for copy multiple stakeholders across Agency, Client, and Publisher. Final piece is here.
Magazines
Magazines
Ghost Writing
Ghost Writing
Documentary-style storytelling, using someone else's tongue.
Marketing + Business + Technical
Marketing + Business + Technical
Consultancy Web Site + Marketing
The Founder/Owner of Sage Ways, Inc., an organizational agility consultancy, wanted to distill a constellation of abstract business optimization theories, models, and methodologies into a succinct story and service offering. She also wanted copy for a site and brand refresh -- especially the consultant bios -- that would stand apart from the competition.
Marketing Trades Ghost Writing
The Global Chief Marketing Officer of the Hacker Agency, based in Germany, wanted to write a case study about new kinds of digital marketing work being done China. The challenge: distilling compelling insight from specialized, technical information from a non-native English speaker while parsing questions of confidentiality and nondisclosure, then writing for copy multiple stakeholders across Agency, Client, and Publisher. Final piece is here.
Ad Copy: Proof of Concept
Assignment: capture the mission and value proposition of an international not-for-profit organization that empowers women to achieve economic independence. My approach was to emphasize the universal humanity of the women served. Read it here.
Interactive Trades Ghostwriting
An interactive and branding Agency Director needed to turn his thoughts into a think piece for an industry trade magazine. I ghostwrote the piece based on interviews. No edits to piece from client; article ran as submitted. Final piece is here.
Script: Action Learning Explainer
Sometimes I work with organizations as a coach to engage creativity and innovation in solving business problems, and develop the capacities of their people. Action Learning is a powerful tool to do these things; the challenge is that it's a subtle methodology that works through experience -- not description. Still, you need to be able to explain it, right? Wrote the script for this video to do so.
Case Study: Interviews + Writing + Design
Sage Ways, Inc., a boutique Organization Development consultancy, needed to generate a case study on a recent Leadership Development engagement at The Nature Conservancy. I wrote the case from interviews with both client and consultant. Case is here.
Org Design & Architecture: Interviews + Research + Concept + Technical Writing
A multinational IT company needed to re-engineer their career architecture framework (for just what the heck that means, more detail here). I worked with a team, and was responsible for a subset of the professions as defined by the company's org structure. My work process was different depending on the relative size and impact of the profession on the company; in some cases I'd generate technical copy after participating in multi-day off-sites with profession stakeholders. In other cases, I'd conduct independent industry research, interview subject-matter-experts, and do forensic reviews of internal documentation before creating the information architecture myself, and writing copy to it. Results: Final approval of technical copy passed numerous reviews, including client, HR, expert, editorial, and legal. Released globally on company intranet.
Books: Nonfiction Proposal + Agent Procurement
An internationally-known Yoga teacher needed someone to tell her story. I served as a ghostwriter, editor, and publishing consultant for her proposed nonfiction book. The proposal included a book outline, positioning, marketing overview, a finished chapter excerpt, and a promotional DVD including a mini-documentary and photo montage. The proposal was a success; I secured a literary agent in New York for the project; she subsequently placed it with HarperCollins Publishers. The title was released in 2011.
Copywriting: 30 second TV spot
Local insurance company PEMCO ran a contest seeking new additions to its 'Northwest Profiles' series -- humorous takes on local eccentricities. Wrote script, co-shot footage, curated music, performed VO, edited segment. Result: took a top prize.
Books: Editing
A first-time author needed help turning his thoughts into a book. I worked with him on structure, voice and tone, and line editing to produce a Kindle title that rates 4.6 of 5 stars among reader reviews, and as of last check was the #2 best-seller on Amazon in its category.
Strategy White Paper: Research + Analysis + Business Writing
Academic assignment for B-School: Conduct a strategic assessment of the IT Management Software market using Porter's Five Forces Model. Main writer, editor. Included here as an example of pure analytic business writing and thinking. Piece is here.
Fiction
Fiction
Nonfiction
Nonfiction
